Tinted Windows features members from Smashing Pumpkins, Hanson, CheapTrick and Fountains of Wayne. Why people are shocked at this have no idea.

It makes completely perfect sense.

Cheap Trick's massive success in the '70s and '80s sprang from their ability to meld pop hooks with suburban themes and push them into an arena rock setting. Post their 80s heyday, their influence became apparent with the next rise of so called "alternative" bands throughout the '90s, ones who championed melody as much as they did crunch. Bands like Nirvana, Everclear, Weezer, Paw, Green Day, Guns n Roses and yes, Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne have all referenced them at one time or another.

Now Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos has teamed up with James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne to form a new band, Tinted Windows. And everyone seems to be going apeshit over such a "weird" combination. C'mon.

Smashing Pumpkins wrote some of the most mainstream, fuzzed out melodic rock - not just of the '90s - but of all time. Schlesinger's underrated Fountains of Wayne achieved similar, (particularly on their self-titled debut) if a little less fawned over. He did go on to write the music for the movie That Thing You Do however, including the hit title song for which he won an Oscar. Both bands were buddies at the time, and both mentioned the significant influence on them by Cheap Trick. Though you would only need hear their music to suspect it.

Now. So you're forming a power pop band in the vein of classic 80s throwback (with a hint of cheese) and you need a good (looking) lead singer. It's hard to think of a more suitable candidate than Taylor Hanson, the good one from teen sensations Hanson. He even wears white pants!. People, it's the perfect storm.

The band have been recording in New York and already have an album in the can, due out at the end of April. They perform live for the first time at SXSW this March, but here's a snippet of what to expect. Probably without the awkward intro. Man, everyone's cribbing from Tim & Eric these days...
 


Tinted Windows - promo video

You can listen to all of 'Kind of a Girl' at www.tintedwindowsmusic.com